You have your own special holiday traditions, but have you ever stopped to think what people in other countries are sitting down to eat during the holidays? Here is a list of nine different holiday traditions from eight different countries.
1. UK: Christmas Pudding
Traditional Christmas pudding is similar to a cake filled with an abundance of dried fruit. Traditionally it’s quite boozy with brandy cooked inside, brandy flamed on the outside and brandy butter served alongside, making it a perfect holiday tradition if you’re one suffering through the holidays with those relatives.
2. Spain: Turrón
Just like Americans, the Spaniards have a plethora of their favorite Christmas confections. One of their popular holiday traditions is an almond nougatine that contains three basic ingredients: almonds, honey and eggs.
Despite the simplicity, recipes can vary, and there are two different versions. Turrón de Jijona is softer with a consistency similar to peanut butter, while Turrón de Alicante has a harder consistency.
3. Italy: Feast of the Seven Fishes
Italians have a big holiday tradition for Christmas Eve: The Feast of the Seven Fishes. This feast is a multiple course meal, with plenty of seafood dishes, that is rooted in the religious tradition of abstaining from red meat the day before Jesus’ birth.
4. France: Bûche de Noël
This traditional French dessert, also known as a yule log, is often made with a chocolate sponge cake rolled up with filling, decorated with frosting to look like bark and topped off with festive decorations.
5. Israel: Sufganiyot
These deep-fried donuts are eaten during Hannakuh, as it is popular to cook with a lot of oil during this holiday celebrating the miracle of the burning lamps in the Holy Temple. These deep-fried miracles are filled with jelly or custard and traditionally topped off with powdered sugar.
6. Portugal: Lampreia de Ovos
With the egg yolks as the main ingredient, this popular Christmas dessert is one of the most obscure holiday traditions I’ve come across. This dessert is shaped like a lamprey fish, which is delicacy in Portugal, and is placed on top of angel hair strips made of more egg yolks and sugar.
7. Venezuela: Hallacas
The main dinner celebration in Venezuela also traditionally happens on Christmas Eve. One common dish is hallacas, which is made by steaming a meaty stew wrapped in corn dough in plantain leaves.
8. Russia: Pagach
The Russian Orthodox Christmas dinner begins with rituals, one of them involving pagach. This bread, which is traditionally filled with potato or cabbage, is first dipped in honey and then in garlic to represent the sweetness and bitterness of life.
9. Japan: KFC
Due to a marketing ploy back in the ’70s, the predominately non-Christian population have turned to KFC for their holiday meal tradition.
You can check out even more traditions from around the world here.